< PreviousSTAND UP FOR A HIGHER STANDARDI WILL NOTFACE GRADUATIONWITH FEARWe provide the education and support that gets you in and out, and into a successful career you’ll love. Explore our new bachelor’s program in 15 online courses. If you have an associate degree from 2002 on, you’re in.Choose from more than 30 program optionsBusiness | Criminal Justice | Culinary Arts | DesignEnergy and Electronics Technology | Healthcare | HospitalityInformation Systems and Technology | Nursing | Trades TechnologyPTCollege.edu A NONPROFIT INSTITUTION*Showcases graduates from 2017 classes. Data includes those who were available for work and were offered and/or received career search assistance from 1/1/2017-4/30/2018. Includes full-time, part-time, or freelance positions. Visit PTCollege.edu/employmentstats to learn more. Pittsburgh Technical College admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.97% of available PTC graduates are working in their career ﬁelds.*RSVP to join us at Open House 10:30 AM March 23, 2019.30 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2019Montour School District On Jan. 22, David E. Williams Middle School opened its doors to an impressive guest list of ofﬁcials, educators and community members to celebrate the opening of what very well may be the ﬁrst-ever middle school artiﬁcial intelligence lab in the country. During the event, approximately 100 students who have been working on projects that are a direct byproduct of Montour’s new AI curriculum gave presentations on topics ranging from autonomous robotics to the ethics of artiﬁcial intelligence. To date, over 500 students have participated in Montour’s new AI program and all middle school students will have the opportunity to take part in the program by the end of the school year. To develop the curriculum, Montour has worked with a number of high proﬁle post-secondary institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pittsburgh. One of the course’s tracks, AI Ethics, was adapted for middle school students from a higher education course designed by the MIT Media Lab. In the course at DEW, students studied critical questions facing companies that utilize AI, such as: What does an autonomous car do when it’s faced with colliding either with a barrier or a crowd of people? In yet another course, students used AI to create music and, in another, they manipulated the coding of a sophisticated toy robot using software developed by a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Guests at the event included U.S. Congressman Conor Lamb and Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera. A number of regional educators and researchers also visited, including Dmitriy Babichenko, professor in the School of Computing and Information at the University of Pittsburgh; Kenny Chen, founder of Pittsburgh AI; Hannah Lena, a representative from the Pennsylvania School Board Association; Po Sheh-Loh, an associate professor of mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University and coach of the U.S. International Math Olympiad Team; David Touretsky, a research professor at CMU’s Center for Neural Basis of Cognition; and Barron Webster, a designer with Google’s Creative Lab. Prior to the tour, attendees heard from Dominic Salpeck, principal of David E. Williams Middle School; Dr. Justin Aglio, Montour’s director of academic achievement and district innovation; Dr. Christopher Stone, superintendent of Montour School District; and Rivera, who applauded Montour educators and students for their efforts. In remarks, Stone said the idea for the lab started nearly a year ago, with administrators asking themselves, as Stone put it, “what kind of unique knowledge must our students develop over the next several years here at Montour to compete globally…?” The answer, Stone said, was quite simple: artiﬁcial intelligence. “New technology, smart phones, social media, advertising, marketing, entertainment, now depend on - as you know - on artiﬁcial intelligence,” Stone said. “Household names such as Siri, Tesla, Amazon, Netﬂix, Nest are all powered by artiﬁcial intelligence. And of course we all know that this market is expanding rapidly.” To teach Montour’s new AI program, Montour educators Bill Black, Rick Stetzer, Cyndi Mancini and Rob Roehn all jumped on board and dedicated precious free time to develop its various tracks. Those tracks are as follows: • Autonomous Robotics using Calypso for Cozmo, an AI-powered robotics framework for the Cozmo robot. The autonomous robotics lab was equipped by ReadyAI, the ﬁrst comprehensive K-12 AI education company to create an “out of the box ready” and complete program to teach AI for K-12 AI education that empowers students to use AI to change the world.• AI Music, using Amper Score™, a program that enables enterprise teams to compose custom music in seconds and reclaim the time spent searching through stock music. Music can be created for a video, podcast, or another project. Score’s Creative AI quickly makes music that ﬁts the exact style, length and structure needed.• AI Ethics, based off the AI + Ethics Curriculum for Middle School project from the MIT Media Lab. Throughout the curriculum, students learn to think of algorithms as opinions, are taught to consider direct and indirect stakeholders in a system, and engage in design activities to reimagine Montour opens AI Lab at DEWABOVE: Students at David E. Williams Middle School demonstrate Amper Score, a program that relies on artiﬁcial intelligence to create music, for Congressman Conor Lamb during the opening of the school’s AI Lab. Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and Dr. Christopher Stone, Montour superintendent, are pictured to his right. DEW students show how artiﬁcial intelligence can be used with facial recognition software. March/April 2019 • www.awmagazine.com • 31PHOTO BY STUDIO TEN INC.A message from the board: Dear taxpayers and residents of the Montour School District, On behalf of the Montour School District Board of School Directors, we hope this information is beneﬁcial and exciting. As you have probably recognized, many of the local municipalities and school districts are experiencing tax increases. The Montour School District tax rate is 17.96 mills and this has not changed since the 2016-2017 school year. The district’s current budget through February is $68,882,863.00. The revenues, as per the end of January 2019, are $59,870,557.39. Montour ranks the fourth lowest district in tax rate millage in Allegheny County, which is well below the county average! We like to think of the Montour School District as the best bargain in western Pennsylvania as it relates to taxes and the vast opportunities provided for your tax dollar. Keeping a district from increasing taxes is based on good ﬁnancial decision making. The Montour School District Board of School Directors is very proud to have worked with the administrative team in an effort to keep taxes “low” while providing a world-class education. Educational experiences such as the middle school’s new artiﬁcial intelligence lab, the elementary school’s Brick MakerSpace by Lego Education and partnerships with institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are just some examples of how working together can provide a world-class education without the need to raise taxes. We will continue to be very considerate of our ﬁnancial responsibilities as a board, while continuing to expand the experiences and opportunities for our students. Thomas Barclay President, Montour School District Board of Directors Superintendent’s message One of the fundamental goals we set for Montour at the beginning of this school year was to not allow ourselves to become complacent as a result of our recent successes. We were purposeful in creating this sense of urgency (even if it was manufactured) to stop complacency in its tracks. Complacency thrives when it comes to pursuing goals that are not time sensitive. As I reﬂect upon the ﬁrst half of the school year, I think I can say we have achieved a number of goals our stakeholders set at the start of the year. We’ve opened one of - if not the ﬁrst - public school artiﬁcial intelligence programs in the country. We also unveiled the Montour Elementary Fab Lab; developed a Reading Achievement program at the middle school; trained all faculty and staff on the Run, Hide, Fight protocol; revamped all processes and procedures as it relates to violent intruders; established a Montour School District armed police force; and developed plans for a new Montour Distinguished Wall of Honor. As well, we’ve ﬁnalized phase I of the David E. Williams renovation project and we’ve done all of that within the ﬁrst 100 days of school. Aggressive, yes, but mission accomplished! We, as a district, will continue to move forward for the betterment of our nearly 3,000 students who we have the privilege of serving every day. We are now in the planning phase for the 2019-2020 school year, which includes new academic programs, staff development, campus beautiﬁcation and ﬁscal planning. As always, we appreciate your partnership and cooperation as we continue to grow Montour to become the very best school district in the region. Yours In Education,Dr. Christopher Stone Superintendent, Montour School Districtfamiliar artiﬁcial intelligence systems.AI Computer Science, using Proto, a Project-Based Learning platform from Carnegie Learning that any teacher can use, with any student. Among the educators outside Montour who helped develop the program was Jamie Sterling, vice president of Product at Carnegie Learning. Sterling helped Montour implement an AI course that teaches students how to code a computer program to utilize strategies to outwit human players at a game of tic-tac-toe. At the opening event, students demonstrated their knowledge of AI and the process they went through to create their game. “I am not sure I have ever seen students so enthusiastic to not only learn, but to demonstrate and present to me what they learned about computer programming and artiﬁcial intelligence,” said Sterling. “The students were ﬁlling me in on semantic and syntax errors, machine learning, how to change their games to ensure they’re more accessible (i.e. switching colors to create more contrast for those who are color blind) and more! I wish I had the opportunity to learn things like this when I was in middle school!” In the coming years, Montour is hoping to expand its AI program to the high school and elementary school. AI Lab, CONT.ABOVE AND LEFT: Students work with Amper Score (above) and a program used to manipulate the artiﬁcial intelligence-drive robot Cozmo (left). 32 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2019 Last semester, 10th grade English language arts teachers Tiffany O’Shea, Gina Ligouri and Rhonda Marasco took a unique approach to a familiar lesson. Each of the teachers had their classes read a novel that touched on themes of inclusion and exclusion in modern society. While English 10 students read the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, Honors English 10 students read the novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel. Rather than follow the traditional rubric of discussing the novels in class and writing an essay, the teachers instead took things a step further. They had their students explore some of the social problems discussed in the books as manifested in school culture. The teachers also challenged students to devise strategies to address those issues and then discuss their ﬁndings with a panel. “We invited over 20 professionals to watch and score our students’ presentations,” says O’Shea. “Each group presented a solution to a problem they found in the novels that still exists in some form today. Two or three panelists were assigned to each group during the presentations and students got to ‘network’ with the other panelists afterward.” She calls the exercise a “wonderful experience for everyone involved.” In all, 215 students and over 20 area professionals participated. Ligouri says that many groups provided data sheets, artifacts and statistics to support their ideas. The teachers say the program was modeled after what’s become known as project-based learning, a concept that evolves around the idea that students better master subject matter when given greater control over their own learning. During a project-based learning experience, students work in groups to research and present solutions to a realistic problem or task. Oftentimes, students have some control over what problem they want to tackle or the means by which they want to go about it. Teachers then become facilitators, taking on a role similar to that of a coach as students take the lead in the learning process. Studies have shown that project-based learning helps students retain knowledge and improve soft skills. It also gives teachers an opportunity to assess mastery of subject matter using a number of different criteria. In 2017, The PA General Assembly, under Act 55, passed legislation that requires public schools to educate students in grades six through 12 about opioid abuse. In particular, schools are now required to educate students about the prescription drug epidemic and the connection between prescription opioid abuse and addiction to other drugs, including heroin. Under the new legislation, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs drafted a new model curriculum for schools to utilize and educate students about the epidemic, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives in the U.S. over the past few years. To help implement that curriculum at Montour, school nurse Kathy Sokol reached out to Joan Mapel, Pharm.D., a lead pharmacist at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, along with pharmacy students both at Pitt and Duquesne University, at the start of the school year. The group has thus far given two presentations to students about the current epidemic and the science behind how drugs alter brain chemistry. Topics included addiction and opioid misuse disorder, tolerance versus dependence, long-term effects of drug abuse, and illegal versus legal drugs. The panel gave one presentation to students in grades nine and 10, and another to students in grades 11 and 12. “They stressed the importance of never taking anyone else’s medication,” says Sokol, “and only taking pain meds as prescribed and not self-medicating to get high. Their message was clear: never start, never give up on anyone, and get help. Resources were made available.” The presentations concluded with prepared questions and answers from students in Bruce Byrom’s health classes. Sokol says that she is hopeful the partnership will continue.New opioid abuse curriculum implementedPharmacy students from the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University helped implement a new opioid education program at Montour. They are pictured with Montour teacher Bruce Byrom. A new approach to familiar lessons Students gave presentations on social issues affecting their schools to panels of area professionals. The exercise was part of a project-based learning exercise they engaged in after reading the novels “Of Mice and Men” and “Night.”March/April 2019 • www.awmagazine.com • 33Stay up to date at www.montourschools.com! Follow Montour School District at @MontourSD Almost every Saturday morning since late October, the Montour High School Library has been ﬁlled with the sounds of objections, cross examinations, openings and directs from 9 a.m. until noon. During that time, the Montour Law Team has been preparing to compete in their two annual competitions at the University of Pittsburgh’s Mock Trial Competition and the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Mock Trial Competition. Students start by receiving a case crafted by the Young Lawyer’s Division of the Allegheny Bar Association and begin dissecting it the moment it is released. Students anxiously wait every year for the case to be released and it has become a time of frequent refreshing of the computer screen. The season begins with practices revolving around courtroom procedure and lessons on objections. Students learn how to write questions both on direct and cross. As they get more knowledgeable, students begin writing and rehearsing their roles. Every year, the tryouts get more difﬁcult because students keep getting more impressive. The team works closely with its attorney advisor, Todd Zwikl, who volunteers numerous hours of his time to teach, reﬁne and share his knowledge with students. Practices are never easy. There is always a new theory that may pop up or a part that may need reﬁned or rewritten. Sometimes things gets contentious among the group of bright minds with different perspectives. Yet by listening and voicing their viewpoints, they become a team. Students on the team take on the roles of the attorneys and the witnesses for the case. As the season has progressed, students have become stronger and stronger in their roles. This year’s case focused on whether or not a doctor properly or improperly prescribed a dosage of an opiod that resulted in a patient’s death. At the University of Pittsburgh competition held the ﬁrst weekend in January, students gave up their entire weekend to practice law in the Cathedral of Learning, where they went up against students from across the Commonwealth. The team’s underclassmen learned the ropes while the team’s upperclassmen went 3-1 in competition. Senior advocate Caroline Dischner won a Best Advocate award for her outstanding performance. Following the competition at Pitt, the team went into revision mode and worked to polish and perfect their case for the Allegheny County competition. Their work included responding and taking objections. For the second year in a row, the team reached the playoffs and went undefeated in the ﬁrst round. Abigail Minzer and Susan Betten won best witness awards while Minzer and Manny Athwal won best advocate awards. Minzer, Athwal and Dischner led the team, along with fellow seniors Josh Heidenreich and Janelle Randolph. Throughout the process, students have grown into not only better students but people as well. They’ve also learned to lead and think quickly on their feet. Together, they’ve become not only a club but a family. This year’s witnesses were played by Minzer, Betten, Tori Stuchell, Livia Bookwood, Emma Dischner and Soﬁa Pascek. Attorneys were played by Minzer, Dischner, Athwal, Eliza Zwikl and Heidenreich. While not every student will become an attorney, everyone on the team has beneﬁtted and grown in public speaking, critical thinking, writing and performance. Students on the team who do not compete serve an instrumental role on the legal team helping to develop the case throughout the year. Students have given up sleep, Saturday mornings, extra paychecks and their free time to the team. Though the club will miss its graduating seniors, it hopes to continue the tradition of winning that those seniors have helped establish. Next year, Dischner plans to attend Purdue University to study engineering while Randolph will be heading to Penn State University to study education. Heidenreich will be attending the University of Pittsburgh Honors College to study neuroscience. Athwal and Minzer are still determining their post-secondary plans but both are considering futures in the legal profession. Law Team a success inside and outside the “courtroom”Montour’s Law Team poses for a picture outside the Allegheny County Ofﬁce Building in downtown Pittsburgh. Want more good news about Montour? Search #MontourProud on Twitter.By Michael Phillips, Law Team Advisor and Coach34 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2019 Montour High School will add 11 new courses to its curriculum next year, many of which are either AP or CHS courses that can be taken for college credit. With the new courses, the high school’s total number of offered AP and CHS courses will rise to 55. Here is a rundown of the courses by department: Students at the high school once again raised money for the Nucci-Finny Scholarship Fund in February by organizing a two-on-two basketball tournament in the Athletic Center. The tournament attracted a record-breaking 56 teams and raised a total of $1,100. Those funds were raised to beneﬁt a scholarship set up in remembrance of Brandon “Nucci” Chiarelli and Brian “Finny” Finnegan. The two standout Montour basketball players passed away 18 years ago in a tragic car accident while en route to the ﬁnal game of the season. Teams in the tournament were guaranteed to play at least three games and, if they won their pool, the team advanced to a single-elimination bracket. Connor Powell and Dylan Deutsch came out on top as champions. Courtney Tomas, Mia Scrabis and Anthony Tambellini headed up this year’s organizing efforts. Members of the varsity basketball teams volunteered their time as referees throughout the tournament. The National Honor Society held a coinciding bake sale to beneﬁt NHS. Each year, the Nucci-Finny Scholarship Fund awards scholarship dollars to a promising graduating Montour student athlete who has demonstrated leadership and character. Donations to the Nucci-Finny Scholarship Fund can be made at any PNC Bank branch.Nucci-Finny Tournament attracts record turnoutConnor Powell and Dylan Deutsch, winners of this year’s Nucci-Finny basketball tournament, display the bracket with Eileen Finnegan and Jamie Chiarelli. New high school courses coming this fall English Department • CHS Film/Film Studies, taught in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh. • CHS Radio/Podcast Broadcasting, taught in partnership with Point Park University. • AP Seminar is one of two courses that are a part of College Board’s AP Capstone Diploma Program. AP Research will be offered to students in the 2020-2021 school year. Schools have to apply and receive permission from College Board to offer this program and the courses within. • Integrated Studies/Honors Integrated Studies is a rigorous activity, project and problem-based course. This course is designed to enhance research and critical thinking skills. Throughout this course, the student will explore authentic, important and meaningful questions that affect their lives. This course is designed to erase content distinctions between history, English and STEM while answering essential questions to pursue a larger understanding of what it means to be human. The course will study a timeline from World War II to present day and will seek to understand the inﬂuence of historical events on society and current culture. Using a project-based learning foundation, students will investigate and design solutions surrounding real-world challenges. Mandatory PLTs will be assigned as an extension of class time when needed. Teacher recommendation for this course will be required. Students will receive three credits upon successful completion of this course respectively, each in the areas of social studies, English and STEM.Social Studies Department • CHS Theories of Leadership, taught in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh. Math Department • CHS Python for Data Management and Analytics, taught in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh. Science Department • AP Biology Technology Education Department • Tech Lab II is a follow-up to the current Tech Lab course. Computer Science Department • AP Computer Science Principles Business Education Department • CHS Business Analytics, taught in partnership with Point Park University. Art Department • Ceramics II is a follow-up to the current Ceramics I course.March/April 2019 • www.awmagazine.com • 35 Before the curtain rises on Montour’s upcoming musical, which is based the Broadway smash hit “Footloose,” countless hours of hard work will go into staging yet another great production. “Footloose” is based on the 1984 ﬁlm of the same name starring Kevin Bacon. It tells the story of Ren McCormack, a teenager from the big city who, along with his mother, moves to the small town of Bomont after his father abandons them. As the proverbial ﬁsh out of water, Ren ﬁnds himself at odds with many Bomont residents, including the town’s minister, Rev. Moore, who encourages the town to outlaw dancing, which Ren ﬁnds to be incomprehensible. Ren teams up with Rev. Moore’s daughter Ariel and his best friend Willard to convince them to let the teenagers dance. In the process, the town begins to heal from a tragedy that affected them all. Ryan May will be playing the role of Ren McCormack while Rylan Kadlecik plays the role of Ariel. Noah Kendall plays the role of Willard and Greyson Felt plays the role of Rev. Moore. This year’s production will be directed for the ﬁrst time by the husband-and-wife team of Brittany and Josh Morgan. The Morgans have produced and directed the past nine musicals at David E. Williams Middle School, including this year’s production of “Annie Jr.” “Josh and I are so excited to have the opportunity to put on the high school musical,” said Brittany. “We get so much joy working with the middle school kids, and are so excited for everyone to come out and see ‘Footloose.’ We chose this show to get the kids and community excited, and because it has a lot of roles and opportunities for the students. It is going to be incredible.” Brittany - a 2007 Montour alumna - and Josh met at Robert Morris University, where they were both active in theater arts. Following graduation, they performed in numerous musical and community theater productions throughout the region, including at the prestigious Pittsburgh Musical Theater. Josh also taught theater at the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory. This year’s show would also not be possible without the assistance of an active Parent Advisory Board that helps support the theater program. This dedicated group of parents helps handle many behind-the-scenes elements, including ﬁnances, parent committees and promotion. The Parent Advisory Board is comprised of co-presidents Jen Felt and Mary Olszewski; co-vice presidents Bob Pifko and Amy Spezialetti; treasurer Debbie Dillinger; and Secretary Danielle Zwikl. The production’s school sponsor is Vicky Benson, who acts as a liaison between the production and administration to facilitate communication and scheduling. The directors and cast will spend 14 weeks in rehearsals before opening night. With 75 cast and 25 stage crew members, there are a lot of moving parts. Besides learning the song book and choreography, the actors have to know their sound and lighting cues, stage directions and lines. The production will also have four students in the orchestra pit. “These kids are amazing. They’re so talented and dedicated,” said school board member George Dudash. “We’re so lucky to have such great performers. This will be a real highlight of the school year, so I hope everyone can come out to see it.” “I am so proud to be a part of this,” said Brittany. “Our music director, Missy Nowakowski, and I both graduated from Montour. It is so much fun to be back, and working with this fantastic cast and crew. I think the audience will really enjoy this show. It’s so uplifting.” Footloose will be performed April 5-7 and April 12-13. For more information, visit www.MontourMusical.com.Performers in this year’s production of “Footloose” rehearse the opening scene. Montour to perform “Footloose”LEFT: Rylan Kadlecik (second from right), plays the lead role of Ariel. Here, she practices one of the show’s dance routines with fellow cast members Arina Dillinger, Alex Mannino and Hannah Bosco. BELOW: Ryan May (center) plays the lead role of Ren McCormack that was originally played by Kevin Bacon in the 1984 ﬁlm. 36 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2019 DEW once again held its Kindness Week this year, with themes each day that encouraged students to be kind to their peers and demonstrate unity through various types of dress. The week also included a seminar on social media use amidst increasing awareness of online bullying among teenagers. On Monday, students were encouraged to “Be A Force For Kindness” and wear a superhero-themed shirt to school. Homeroom teachers also distributed “Be a Force for Kindness” wristbands and asked students to vote for the kindest students in each grade via Google Form. On “Team up for Kindness” Tuesday, students wore their favorite team jersey and participated in team building activities in their social studies and science classes. On Wednesday, students in grades ﬁve and six attended a digital media safety assembly with Ryan Klingensmith, a licensed professional counselor. Students in grades seven and eight, meanwhile, viewed a video about being a bystander in a bullying situation. On “Kindness Matters” Thursday, students and staff wore red or pink clothing. Homerooms distributed “Kindness Matters” school supplies and students completed a hearts activity during their social studies or science classes.Follow David E. Williams Middle School on Twitter @DEWMiddleSchoolMontour hosts impressive lineup for jazz concert In January, Montour music instructor Rob Roehn and members of the high school’s jazz ensemble hosted jazz trumpeter Joe Badaczewski for a special workshop. Students had the opportunity to learn and practice techniques utilized in jazz ensemble playing and improvisation from Badaczewski, who is an associate professor of jazz trumpet at Duquesne University. In February, Montour welcomed Badaczewski back for the ensemble’s annual Jazz Night. The band performed several pieces with the well-traveled trumpet player, who has performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra and others. The ensemble’s lineup included “MacArthur Park,” “Vehicle,” “If I Didn’t Have You,” “Boplicity” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Performing solos were: Alex Senott on trombone, Nick Alexander on baritone sax, Josh Knapp on trumpet, Kaden Rotellini on alto sax, Ryan Black on tenor sax and Alyssa Palmieri on piano. Badaczewski was featured on Maynard Ferguson’s “MacArthur Park” and Miles Davis’ “Boplicity.” In a ﬁrst this year, Montour also welcomed the CAPA Jazz Orchestra from Pittsburgh Public Schools. The band performed “Bumpin’ on Sunset,” “John & Mary” and “Spain.” The ensemble was conducted by Paul Thompson, an associate professor of bass at Duquesne University. Duquesne University’s own jazz ensemble then took the stage. Conducted by Mike Tomaro, the ensemble closed out the show with “Outside In,” “Taking of Pelham 123” and Thad Jones’ “Cherry Juice.” The Montour High School Band will close out their performance season on May 9 at 7 p.m. at Montour High School. Both the jazz ensemble and concert band will be featured. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend!Kindness Week encourages social responsibility David E. Williams students wore red and team jerseys on certain days throughout Kindness Week in a show of solidarity. Joe Badaczewski performs with Montour’s jazz ensemble. March/April 2019 • www.awmagazine.com • 37Yankello performs in first night celebrations David E. Williams student Ashley Yankello was selected as one of four ﬁnalists in the annual Williams SING-OFF Competition late last year. As such, she was invited to perform on New Year’s Eve in downtown Pittsburgh as part of the ﬁrst night celebrations. Ashley also performed during the halftime show for the Harlem Globetrotters World Tour at PPG Paints Arena in December. In November, the 11-year-old Kennedy resident also released her fourth original song “You’ll Always Be My Hero,” which went on to be named song and video of the month worldwide by The MÓB Radio. The video can be viewed on YouTube. Ashley is currently preparing to perform in Stars of Tomorrow, an annual production showcasing outstanding young talent from western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. At the time of this writing, she’s also planning to perform the ﬁnals for the Arnold Quest for Talent competition in Columbus, Ohio on March 2. Last year, Ashley placed third. She is among 18 ﬁnalists this year. Students, faculty and Montour families have all been pitching in to help a number of good causes over the past couple of months. In February, DEW again hosted its Bring the Change drive, which this year beneﬁtted the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Throughout the week of Feb. 19, students donated their spare change in their homerooms. Each day, they were asked to donate a different denomination. On Tuesday, students donated nickels and on Wednesday they donated dimes. Quarters were collected on Thursday and, on Friday, paper - in the form of cash and checks - was requested. The effort resulted in raising $3,029.43. Kelly Butera’s Homeroom 309 collected the most donations and earned a lunch from the Olive Garden. Eileen Taylor’s Homeroom 304 came in second and Stacey Johnson’s Homeroom 100 came in third, earning themselves a choice of either a pizza party or ice cream party. Earlier this year, members of the TLC club at DEW also organized a toiletries drive to beneﬁt the Northside Common Ministries. TLC members Gracyn Sleva and Peja Cruise helped spearhead the effort, which prompted a letter of thanks from Jay Poliziani, director of the Northside Common Ministries. In his letter, Poliziani writes that about 1,000 individuals and families rely on the ministries for food assistance and that about 400 homeless men utilize the shelter each year. “On behalf of the thousands of people who pass through our facility to receive services each year I offer my thanks for your generosity,” he writes. Philanthropic efforts benefit good causes David E. Williams Middle School recently received a $10,000 grant from Chevron to support its Project Lead the Way courses. In all, 24 districts in the tri-state region received $1 million in grant dollars from the company. Since 2013, the company has awarded $3.5 million to schools in the region. PLTW is a nonproﬁt organization that designs curricula in STEM ﬁelds. Many of its programs introduce students to complex subjects and potential career paths by utilizing hands-on components. DEW currently offers four PLTW courses, one in each grade. According to DEW principal Dominic Salpeck, the grant money will allow the school to augment their current STEM programming with additional resources in the areas of robotics and artiﬁcial intelligence.DEW receives $10,000 Chevron grantStay up to date at www.montourschools.com! 38 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2019 Montour Elementary School hosted the ﬁrst-ever FIRST Lego League Jr. expo in western Pennsylvania on Feb. 23. Ten teams comprised of 52 students from across the region took part in the Saturday event. In the months leading up to the competition, teams had devised solutions to various challenges facing a ﬁctitious colony living on the moon. Prior to the competition, the teams built models of their imagined moon bases and created posters explaining how their bases represented solutions to various problems in a booklet. Students then presented their models and posters to a panel of judges. FIRST Lego League was originally founded by Dean Kamen, the medical device inventor who is perhaps most famous for inventing the personal people mover known as the Segway. The junior challenge, says Marcel Bergerman, who organizes the FIRST Lego League in western Pennsylvania, provides students with an introduction to the league. Various stages of the league are aimed at different age groups, with middle school students creating autonomous robots capable of completing a series of complex tasks. Students in yet higher divisions go on to build even larger and more complex robots. Each year, teams from around the world face off at an international competition held in Detroit, Michigan. “[Kamen’s] premise is, if we make Lego a sport, more children will join,” says Bergerman. He says that, each year, the entire league is presented with a theme, this year’s being space exploration. Formerly a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Bergerman now runs Near Earth Autonomy, a company in Point Breeze that is engineering technology to create autonomous aircraft. He says he and his wife got involved with FIRST Lego League through their son’s participation in it. He now also runs the MySTEM Academy and says his own personal goal is to train 10,000 children through it. In addition to the competition at MES, teams also got to cycle through various stations throughout the school, including one where students learned how to program drones. Another allowed students to learn how to use EV3 robotics kits, which are the same kits students use in an upper level FIRST Robotics Competition. They also got to spend some time in the Brick MakerSpace by Lego Education, which Montour developed in collaboration with Lego Education of North America. According to Gordon Walton, director of the FIRST Lego League in western Pennsylvania, the league for middle school students has been around for about 20 years. He says that this past year it attracted about 100 teams and 1,000 participants. He says the area’s regional league has also had a couple recent teams go on to win the world competition. Two Montour teams won awards at this most recent competition. The Spartan Bots won the Construction Innovation award while the Brick Layers won the Complexity and Innovation award. MES hosts FIRST Lego League Jr. competitionFROM TOP: Montour Elementary School students ﬂy drones at one of the stations set up for the FIRST Lego League Jr. Challenge (top) and explain their moon base model to a judge (middle). Students from St. James Catholic School and Connellsville learn about the Lego EV3 robot. March/April 2019 • www.awmagazine.com • 39Next >